Don’t misuse resources to fund abortion agenda

Cambridge Times

The recent attempt by three Conservative MPs to persuade the electorate and RCMP officials to support a homicide investigation concerning women seeking late-term abortions is unbelievably banal in theory and even more so in practice.

Undoubtedly, the R vs. Morgentaler 1988 decision left a policy vacuum concerning the issue of abortion that still exists today. After the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that section 251 of the Criminal Code of Canada was unconstitutional, discretion was left to the provinces (who possess legal jurisdiction over health).

Moreover, since 1988, there is a legal agreement in place between the provincial and territorial college of doctors (representing each province and territory across Canada) not to perform abortion procedures beyond 20 to 21 weeks gestation limit.

However, there is an exception to this agreement. Doctors will perform an abortion beyond the specified gestation period if there is an immediate health threat to the survival of the mother. Thus, Statistics Canada, as well as any other medical database possessing these records, will have information documented for procedures performed beyond 20 to 21 weeks, but it is a case of maternal health and certainly not homicide.

It is curious that these members of the Conservative Government of Canada would want to use federal resources to investigate matters of health care and abortion when they have frequently refused to invoke the federal spending power to rein in recalcitrant provinces who have not satisfied the principles of the Canada Health Act. It is fundamentally undemocratic for a government to choose to emasculate its fiduciary responsibilities only to selectively apply resources to issues framed solely by ideology.

It is also curious that there appears to be a constant procession of backbench attempts to reopen a debate on abortion when Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a known proponent of adherence to strict party discipline and has publicly stated his desire to not reopen such discussions.